Pilot described as nice, wonderful and serious flier

BAKER- Friends and colleagues of a pilot, killed when his plane crashed into houses Friday afternoon, are in shock that the man they knew is gone and that a plane many describe as powerful gave him fatal trouble.

John Fowler, 71, died. Although, the coroner will perform an autopsy and release a specific cause of death later. He was piloting the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 when it went down near Groom Road.

Fowler is described as a professional flier and "the nicest person" by numerous people. He lived in Brookhaven, Mississippi, but had ties to the Baton Rouge-area.

"John Fowler was a very wonderful man," Tyler Aguillard said. "He was very nice, respectful, and it's a very horrible thing that's happened."

Fowler reported mechanical issues with the aircraft before it plummeted thousands of feet into the ground. As many as three houses were damaged, one destroyed by fire when the plane seemingly exploded upon impact.

Federal investigators will spend the weekend at the wreckage site and a final report could take weeks or months.

According to flight records, the plane had just returned to Baton Rouge Metro Airport from Texas and was headed next to McComb, Mississippi. *********Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz